In February this year, we announced the outstanding academic achievements our students gained in the external New Zealand Scholarship exams. See the article below.

We also published the IB Diploma results. We are extremely proud of our students, in particular of Andrew Chen’s perfect score of 45 our of 45 points. Click here to read the full IB Diploma results.

It is with great pride that we announce that two of our students who sat the external New Zealand Scholarship exams at the end of 2018, Andrew Chen and Daniel Mar, have been named as Premier Scholars by NZQA (New Zealand Qualification Authority). 

In addition, two of our students received Top in Subject Awards – Andrew Chen for Statistics and 2018 Year 11 student, Christopher Dirk, was top in Design and Visual Communication.

Andrew and Daniel are two of only 11 students across the country to achieve this significant award that recognises academic excellence of the highest order. Notably, Saint Kentigern Senior College is the only school to have more than one student achieve at this level in 2018. This is the second time since the inception of the Premier Award that two of our students have received the award in the same year.

More than 9,300 New Zealand students sat Scholarship exams across 35 subjects at the end of last year. Students sitting these papers are assessed on their ability to demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation. Successful students are those who can also integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations. The exams are designed to extend the very best students and are regarded as the most prestigious secondary school award in the country, offering financial rewards for those going on to full-time tertiary study in New Zealand.

Andrew and Daniel are both outstanding academics – and also best mates! Whilst Andrew studied towards the International Baccalaureate Diploma, achieving the top mark of 45/45, Daniel undertook NCEA. Both students sat further New Zealand Scholarship exams in seven subjects, remarkably gaining Scholarships in all seven, with each gaining four classed at ‘Outstanding’ level.

In addition, Andrew was named as the Top Subject Scholar in the country for Statistics – the second time he has topped this subject, having also achieved this feat two years ago as a Year 11 student! Both students have punched above their weight in Scholarship exams; in Andrew’s case sitting exams since Year 11 and amassing a total of 13 Scholarships, whilst Daniel has been awarded a total of 10 Scholarships over the last two years. There is great monetary incentive for high achievers. A Premier Scholars Award includes a grant of up to $30,000 towards their tertiary studies!

Andrew has been offered a place at Oxford University, UK to study Mathematics and Computer Science whilst Daniel plans to take up a scholarship to The University of Auckland to study Computer Science and Finance – having also been awarded the Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) Scholarship.

The boys will be presented their Awards at the Beehive in Wellington in May.

Other Noteworthy Performances
In total, 46 of our students gained a total 82 Scholarships across a range of subjects of which 15 were marked as ‘Outstanding’ level. Seven of our students were also awarded an overall ‘Scholarship Award,’ for candidates who achieve Scholarship in three or more subjects. Ebba Olsen, Yunfan Yu, Ben Creemers, Ben Staite, Joshua Ng, Juliet Shepherd and Ben Fraser will each be awarded up to $6000 each towards their tertiary studies.

Also of note are the 3 students in Year 11 who were awarded 4 scholarships and the 16 students in Year 12 who were awarded 21 Scholarships, including 4 at ‘Outstanding’ level. These exams are more usually undertaken in the final year of study in Year 13.

We take pride in the achievements of our students in all their fields of endeavour, but academic outcomes remain the most important. These results will open doors to the next stage of learning for these students as they continue on to their tertiary education.

Scholarship exams are rigorous, requiring high level abstract thinking and the application of knowledge and ideas to complex situations. NZQA’s intention is that 3% of the total number of Year 13 students in the country sitting Level 3 in each of the 35 available subjects will be awarded a Scholarship, provided Scholarship standards are met. Of this top 3% nationwide who gain a Scholarship pass, a small number, equating to approximately 0.5% nationwide will be accorded an Outstanding Scholarship. 

At Saint Kentigern, our brightest NCEA students can elect to study towards Scholarship exams. Scholarship exams are offered by NZQA and are, therefore, aligned to NCEA. Where course content is similar, our IB Diploma students can also elect to sit Scholarship exams. However, in many cases this is not possible for some of our brightest IB Diploma students as each year there are examination clashes.

There is great monetary incentive for students to aim to achieve in these exams. New Zealand students who do well in Scholarship gain substantial monetary awards. A Scholarship in just one subject receives $500, as a single payment. An overall Outstanding Scholarship Award is worth $5,000 each year for up to three years for as long as the recipient maintains at least a ‘B’ grade average each year of their tertiary study. An overall Scholarship Award is worth $2,000 each year for up to three years for as long as the recipient maintains at least a ‘B’ grade average each year of their tertiary study.  A Premier Scholarship Award is worth $10,000 for up to three years as long as the recipient maintains a ‘B’ grade average each year of their tertiary study. For the top candidate in each of the Scholarship subjects, the recipient receives $2,000 each year for up to three years as long as a ‘B’ grade average is maintained each year of their tertiary study.

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